Arnsdorff shows his face in town again
August 2nd, 2006 by Atomictumor
Evidently, he hasn’t forgotten Oak Ridge, he just wanted to spend time with his friends in Charlotte…
According to the Oak Ridger, which is pretty much where all my stuff comes from, the Oak Ridge Mall job (the one, if you recall, that was supposed to be torn down by now) was too mighty a job for a Chattanooga boy, so he had to hook up with CORE Properties for a little bit of help. Hopefully, their web presence isn’t an indication of their redevelopment prowess.
So, it looks to me that Arnsdorff whined and moaned about Oak Ridge courting other developers in order to cover up the fact that he didn’t have the funding to do the thing. Course, the article now says that we shouldn’t expect any major work done on the beast this year.
Man. I still fail to see how this huckster got to where he is. I mean, sure, old ladies are easy to rip off, but to pull it over the Atomic City? Damn. He’s good.
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:26 pm
You are kidding right AT? I know little old ladies that are more business savy than our city fathers (and mothers). Just think where we would be right now if the city’s 2003 proposed bond issue had gone through. 23.something millions dollars deeper in debt, without all those magical salestax dollars rolling in from that brand new beautiful city center…that’s where.
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:47 pm
Was Arnsdorff the guy who would have done the job if the bond had come through? I must admit, I can’t remember if I was for the thing or against it at the time…
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Oh yeah, he has always been the man. Big smile, white shoes and belt kinda guy.
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:52 pm
By the way, Mr. Richardson may not have been around in 2003, but his paper and Mayor McCheese did support Arnsdorf and the bond issue back then.
August 2nd, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Yeah, it was Arnsdorff. And yes, I was dead wrong on that one. He had a lot of big ideas that sounded like great ideas — you know, putting interesting stores in that carcass of a mall that would actually compel people to shop here. He had pretty pictures. He said he had the funding to pull it off.
When I learned that he also owned the dead shopping center on Papermill (where the parking lot fell in and washed away in the rain), my confidence sank quickly. Why not finish our project right before starting one in Knoxville?
I’ve told Martin McBride, and now I’m telling Daco: you were right, I was wrong. Next time I won’t be so quick to fall for it… but thank goodness caution previled.
August 2nd, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Actually you already told me that NetMom, but it’s good to be reminded that I have actually been right about something.
I know that it is a nasty subject to bring up, but is this an instance that eminent domain could be used? How difficult would it be to find a new developer for the project?
August 2nd, 2006 at 7:30 pm
A lot of people had asked for that (to exercise eminent domain) going back even before Arnsdorff, but Council felt it would be unethical — if not illegal — to do so.
With this year’s revision of eminent domain laws in the State Legislature, I don’t think it’s even possible. We can just hope that someone recognizes that there is an unserved market here.